Don’t Forget Me – Kurdish Music from a Refugee Camp

Music is therapy and this is being recognised more and more these days.

If you are stuck on a remote pacific island in hellish conditions the outlet provided by music can really help you to stay positive and fulfil some of your dreams amid dank oppression.

A refugee who has been accomplishing much while indefinitely incarceration is Farhad Bandesh, a Kurd who escaped from Iran’s draconian Islamic regime only to have the lead boot of another crush him again.

His art, poetry and music has broken through the chain wire fences of Australia’s offshore detention regime and onto the walls and into the ears of Australians and anyone on the internet.

The environmental beauty surrounding the detention centre on Manus Island PNG was captured by Farhad as he recorded video to match with his vocals skillfully mastered into a powerful song by Brett Hamlyn.

The stark contrast between Manus’ environmental beauty and the pain and suffering inside the detention centres is heartbreaking.

This song is also about heartbreak.

Maybe the lover is Australia and the betrayal of a country which projects (or used to project)  an image of compassion but is now even more cold hearted than ever.

Interwoven with scenes of Manus are the rolling hills of Kurdistan, which Farhad left behind seeking safety and freedom in Australia.

A Kurdish flag is seen in the film clip a reminder of the defiance of the Kurdish people who continue to struggle despite the suffering they have endured, inflicted by so many.

Farhad wrote the song and through connections in Australia met Brett who made the backing track and produced the song.

Wendy Joy Ford penned and sang the English vocals. I came aboard to pull everything together into a music video.

All in all this song came together through emails, social media, mobile phones and snail mail.

They can’t stop us dreaming, they can’t stop us writing and they can’t stop us singing.

Farhad draped in a Kurdish flag, Red symbolises the blood of martyrs and continue struggle for freedom, green the beauty of Kurdistan and yellow the sun with 21 rays.